Canada's Safest Employers awards recognize companies from all across Canada with outstanding accomplishments in promoting the health and safety of their workers. The program boasts 10 industry-specific safety awards and four special awards.

The COS Safety Leader of the Year recognizes an individual who best exemplifies leadership and vision in the world of OHS in Canada. Co-workers, employees, bosses or anyone can submit a nomination for a deserving leader.

Ont. accessibility standard for customer service now in force

Ontario’s first accessibility standard for customer service came into force January 1, 2010 for the public sector. The province's private sector will need to meet these requirements by 2012.

The province's ministries, hospitals, schools, municipalities and other public sector organizations must make sure their services are accessible by meeting requirements such as:

training staff about meeting the needs of customers with a variety of disabilities

communicating with a person in a manner that takes into account their disability

permitting customers to bring their service animals, such as guide dogs, onto their premises.

More than 1.85 million Ontarians have a disability and this number is quickly rising as the population ages. Canadians with disabilities spend $25 billion every year and influence the spending decisions of 12 to 15 million other consumers.

The customer service standard is part of Ontario's plan to make the province accessible for people with disabilities by 2025.